Our 2011-2012 Homeschool Curriculum

Between music camp, a writing workshop in Kansas, and a dozen other activities, I've been trying to finalize our curriculum list for this upcoming school year. And I'm elated to say the list is finally done, and nearly all the curriculum has been ordered.

Here's our homeschool curriculum plan for the upcoming year. And as usual, it's subject to change.

NOTE: I've updated this post with what we actually ended up using this year. The changes are noted below.

Joely, 4th grade girl

• World Views:Who is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?)
• English: Rod & Staff 4 and Wordsmith Apprentice. We dropped R&S this year for a change and to focus more on writing. We finished Wordsmith, and then purchased Writing With Ease (book 2) but that wasn't a good fit for us. So I did some more searching and we ordered level 2 of Michael Clay Thompson's language arts curriculum. We've so far been using his Grammar Town, Building Poems, and Caesar's English and have been very happy with it. We'll be continuing with MCT's curriculum next year.
• Math: Singapore Math 4 along with the Challenging Word Problems 4 and Process Skills in Problem Solving 4. Joely finished level 4 and will finish 5A and half of Challenging Word Problems 5 by the end of the school year.
• Science: Christian Kids Explore Chemistry probably mixed with Earth & Space and Physics in the same series. We finished all three books — Chemistry, Physics, and Earth & Space.
• History: The Story of The World (volumes 3 & 4) When Joely finished SOTW, she asked to study Africa, so we're now about a third of the way through Journey Into Africa, which we're really enjoying.
• Keyboarding: Using Mavis Beacon software. We updated our computer's operating system, so Joely is not longer able to use Mavis Beacon. Instead she's been using TypingWeb.com.
• Latin: Visual Latin
• Drawing & Design: Using various books on drawing we already own and The Non-Designer's Design Book.
  Joely has been learning more about HTML and CSS from HTMLDog.com.
• Music: Private drum lessons and Practica Musica
• Physical Education: Judo lessons

Jerah, 7th grade girl

• World Views: Thinking Like a Christian
• English & Writing: Writers' Workshop course at Potter's School (will also be using resources from Analytical Grammar in the class). She'll also be doing One Year Adventure Novel's Other Worlds curriculum.
• Math: Chalk Dust Prealgebra
• Science: Exploring Creation With General Science at Potter's School
• History: Beautiful Feet's Early American & World History
• Logic: The Thinking Toolbox
• Personal Finance: Foundations in Personal Finance (first semester)
• Latin: Visual Latin
• Music: Private bass guitar lessons and Practica Musica
• Design: Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-On-One and The Non-Designer's Design Book Jerah has been learning tons about photography and Photoshop on Lynda.com.
• Physical Education: Judo lessons

Jaden, 9th grade boy

• World Views: Thinking Like a Christian
• English: English 3 course at Potter's School
• Spelling: Apples Daily Spelling Drills for Secondary Students. Jaden finished book 1 and has moved on to book 2.
• Math: Chalk Dust Geometry
• Science: Exploring Creation With Biology at Potter's School
• Study Skills: Using How to Study for College at Potter's School (first semester)
• Personal Finance: Foundations in Personal Finance (first semester)
• Government: Exploring Government (second semester)
• Latin 1: Using Lingua Latina at Potter's School.
• Music: Private guitar lessons and Practica Musica
• Computer Science/Programming: Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, Programming in Objective-C, and Learning iOS Game Programming: A Hands-On Guide to Building Your First iPhone Game
  Jaden is discovering that programming may not in fact be what he wants to pursue. Consequently, he's going to finish Programming in Objective-C but will not be reading the other two books this year.
• Physical Education: Judo lessons